


Mocha Doodle

by straightnotechaser



Category: Harry Potter - J. K. Rowling
Genre: Alternate Universe - Coffee Shops & Cafés, Alternate Universe - No Powers, I wrote a coffee shop au, M/M, Oops, Original Character(s), i did it, yep
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-02-04
Updated: 2019-02-04
Packaged: 2019-10-21 22:38:02
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 4,556
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/17651198
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/straightnotechaser/pseuds/straightnotechaser
Summary: Scorpius Malfoy is wasting away his life as a barista in a downtown London cafe. A certain customer becomes a regular. Coffee Shop AU.





	Mocha Doodle

**Author's Note:**

> I'm sorry, I've never been a barista, just frequented many cafes. Big thanks to [bangringyring](https://archiveofourown.org/users/bangringyring/pseuds/bangringyring%22) for the prompt and the proof read.

Scorpius wiped his forehead with the back of his wrist and surveyed his work. He certainly didn’t think his art degree would have landed him working as a barista; it was so cliche. He’d hoped with his affluence and connections he could be doing graphic design, or maybe holed up in a studio working on a comic all day. Instead, he’d spent the last twenty minutes of his life carefully writing out today’s two flavored brews in perfect script on a sidewalk sign.

“Looks great, mate,” his coworker Aleisha said cheerfully. “Want to put it out? We open in five.”

“Sure,” he responded. He capped the chalk marker and then grabbed the sign to take out front. It was almost six o'clock in the morning in London and there were already people milling about. Scorpius set out the sign and flipped the one in the window to ‘open’ on his way back in. Almost immediately, customers began pouring in to the little shop. PJ, the other worker on this shift, sprang into action.

“Good morning!” she called to their first customer, all saccharine smiles. “What can I get started for you?”

Scorpius slipped into the bathroom to wash his hands, then took his own place behind the counter. Every time he worked the morning shift he cursed his parents for telling him he needed to get a “real job” to fund his “hobby.” And, perhaps, one too many expensive nights out. But he’d finished his degree, he’d gotten a flat, and now…

“Two Americanos,” he called out. A harried middle-aged man in a suit plucked them from his hands before hurrying off. Scorpius sighed.

“I can help whoever’s next.”

\--

Eventually, things slowed. Scorpius leaned back against the counter and pushed his light blond hair back into place. It liked to flop into his face while he was working.

“How are we on muffins?” PJ asked.

“There’s eight blueberry left, more coffee cake,” Aleisha replied. “Lots of yogurt.”

“No one wants the yogurt,” Scorpius said. “Not when there’re muffins.”

“Julie always wants yogurt,” PJ said. Julie was one of their regulars; she stopped in on her way from the gym to the office every day for one black coffee and a yogurt.

“Julie is going to live far longer than me, and I’m alright with that,” Scorpius retorted.

“I’m just saying, we have to keep it on for Julie.”

Scorpius shook his head and rummaged around for a pen and his stack of abandoned customer napkins. They weren’t allowed to reuse them, even if they’d gone unused, so Scorpius used them to doodle on. The back of the counter was covered with his caricatures of the team, regulars, and whatever else he’d deigned to draw and leave behind.

“Draw Julie as a yogurt monster,” said Aleisha.

Scorpius grinned and started drawing.

“You should really put up an ad,” PJ said, pointing at their board full of community advertisements. “For commissions, or something. Get your name out there.”

“Oh yes, because I’m sure people would pay good money for a napkin drawing,” Scorpius drawled.

“I’ve seen your other stuff, it’s good!” PJ crossed her arms.

“I haven’t the time,” Scorpius said, shaking his head.

“Too busy between here and every night club in London,” Aleisha teased. Scorpius scowled, but didn’t have a chance to reply before the door was opening again. He looked back down to his doodle. He needed to give Yogurt Julie a yogurt gun to shoot yogurt at all of the muffin-eaters.

“Hi!” PJ called, cheerful as ever. “Let one of us know when you’re ready!”

“The sign said you had blueberry cobbler coffee?”

“Sure do, what size?”

“The smallest you’ve got? I’m just curious.”

“We can just get you an espresso cup to try,” Scorpius said, looking up from his doodle. He blinked once, then smiled his customer service smile. It wasn’t the first time he’d found a customer attractive, he could handle brown puppy eyes and unruly hair today.

“Sure,” the man replied, flashing a huge grin. “Thanks.”

PJ had claimed the customer by shouting first, so she grabbed the espresso cup and put one pump of the flavored brew inside.

“Careful, it’s hot,” she warned. “If you like it just holler and we can get you a whole cup.”

“Put that away, it’s like two sips,” Aleisha said sharply. The man put his wallet back in his pocket.

“Thanks,” he said again. He put the cup up to his mouth and blew gently. Scorpius looked away. PJ caught his eye and grinned.

“This is delicious,” he said. “Can I do the 16 ounce size, to go, please?”

“Sure thing!” PJ said, and elbowed Scorpius hard in the side. He glared at her, but turned and got the coffee anyway. He popped the lid and cardboard sleeve on and then passed it across the counter to the customer.

“Two fifty,” PJ said merrily.

“Thanks,” the customer said to Scorpius, before rummaging around in his wallet. He handed her a five. “Keep the change.”

“Oh, thank you,” PJ said, stuffing the extra into their tip jar. They watched the customer head out of the shop and down the street.

“Ooh, you thought he was cute,” Aleisha said.

“Shut it, I’m drawing Yogurt Julie.”

\--

A few days later, Scorpius was working the afternoon shift when the same customer came in. There was a bit of a queue, and Scorpius and Aleisha were the only two on that day. To say they were harried was a bit of an understatement, but PJ was using a sick day, and she had sounded awful on the phone.

“What can I get started for you?” Scorpius asked.

“Hi,” the man said pleasantly. “Do you have that blueberry coffee again?”

“I’m afraid we don’t,” Scorpius said. “We change the flavors around every day.”

“Oh,” the customer said, looking a little disappointed. Scorpius watched his eyes roam the chalkboard sign above his head. Scorpius had spent a slow hour a few days prior doodling little teal octopi holding multiple cups of coffee on it.

“If you have a minute,” Scorpius said, “you can wait there and I’ll help you find something else you like once the queue is gone.”

The man grinned. “Sure, thanks a lot.”

“No problem,” Scorpius said. The man stepped out of the way and Scorpius waved over the next person in line. He and Aleisha made short work of the queue and then things finally slowed down again. Aleisha gave him a knowing wink as he headed back over to help their repeat customer. He rolled his eyes upward and then leaned over the counter.

“Ready to try some coffee?”

“Definitely,” the man said, smiling.

“So d’you just like black flavored coffee?”

He shrugged. “I like plain coffee, too, and espresso, but the blueberry was intriguing. Honestly, it was weird, because it smelled fruity but didn’t taste it at all.”

Scorpius nodded. “Yeah, it’s really popular. Well today we have Cinnamon Roll, which is sort of like that. It smells sweeter than it is. Or, we have a seasonal raspberry white chocolate latte that has the same sort of fruity thing going for it, if you like lattes.”

“Can I do the latte?” the man said.

“Sure thing,” Scorpius replied. “Here or to go?”

“Um, I think I’ll stay here,” the man said.

“I’ll ring you up,” Aleisha said pleasantly, walking up to the register.

“Okay, thanks,” the man said. Scorpius turned around to get to making the latte.

“Name for your order?” Aleisha was asking.

“James,” the customer replied.

“Here you go,” Scorpius said, sliding a nearly overflowing mug across the counter. He’d done a leaf to finish, because he was fastest at them.

“Oh wow,” James replied. “Brilliant. Thank you.” He grinned.

“No problem,” Scorpius said.

“Enjoy!” Aleisha added.

They both watched James carefully take his mug over to a window table. He rummaged in a bag that he’d brought with and produced some papers and a laptop and started working on something or other.

“What do you think,” Aleisha said, “college student?”

“I dunno, maybe,” Scorpius replied. “Don’t know many college students who give a one hundred percent tip, though.”

“He over-tipped this time, too,” Aleisha said, gesturing with her head to the tip jar.

“Well hopefully he keeps coming in, then,” Scorpius replied.

“If you keep taking care of him, I think he will,” she said with a wink. Scorpius rolled his eyes and shoved her lightly with his shoulder.

“Oi,” she said, “that’s harassment.”

“Whatever,” Scorpius said, grinning. He turned his attention back to their two-time customer. James, he reminded himself. He was sipping his latte, cupping it in both hands while he stared at something on his computer. Scorpius pulled a napkin closer and started drawing. In his doodle, James’ unruly hair was a bit worse, his cheeks dark, and the coffee cup so massive it hid most of his face.

“Cute,” Aleisha commented from over his shoulder. Scorpius felt his skin warm pink, but didn’t bother replying.

The afternoon wore on slowly. Scorpius cleaned the same counter four times in his boredom. James was still there, plucking away at his laptop keys. Scorpius sighed and stood up.

“Hi,” James startled and looked up at him. “Sorry. If you’re done, I can take your cup.”

James smiled easily. “You’re fine. Actually, I was going to get up for another one.”

Scorpius picked up the mug. “I’ll start it. Did you like it?”

“Yeah, it was really good. Just enough sugar to keep me going past the caffeine.” He stretched his arms over his head. “Only twelve more papers, then I can go home.”

“Are you a teacher, then?” Scorpius asked, curious.

“Nah, just a graduate assistant,” James said.

“That’s still cool,” Scorpius replied. He remembered he was supposed to be making coffee. “Well, I’ll get you that latte and I’ll call when it’s ready.”

“Sure,” James replied. “Thank you.”

“Sure,” Scorpius echoed, then headed back to make another latte.

“Got his number yet?” Aleisha asked.

“Sod off, Aleisha,” Scorpius said, feeling himself turn pink again.

“You’re so rude, honestly,” she teased. He hummed in response, busy making a slightly more intricate leaf in this latte.

“Latte for James,” he called out, setting it gently on the counter. He watched James slide out of his chair and come up to the counter.

“Thanks,” he said gratefully.

“I’ve got you here,” Scorpius said, gesturing to the register with his thumb. He rang James up and accepted his overpayment before watching him go sit down again.

James stayed another hour. He even waved goodbye when he left.

“I think we have another regular,” Aleisha said.

\--

Indeed, James did become another regular. He popped into the shop at least once a week, if not more, at what seemed to Scorpius to be completely random times. He almost always ordered something different and then sat by the window and became completely absorbed in his laptop or a book. Scorpius, for his part, spent a lot of time drawing James. His hair was hard to get right. The back of the counter was soon littered with more drawings of James than of anyone else, and he had to endure endless teasing from Aleisha and PJ.

“Hey, Scor, let’s change the specialty drink menu,” PJ said one day when there was literally no one in the shop.

“Okay, what to?” he asked, opening a drawer and gathering the chalk markers.

“I think we should do staff picks, you know? Like how I like making a white chocolate mint mocha, and how you do the treacle latte.”

Scorpius made a list of all of the staff’s favorite custom drinks, and then set about penning them onto the big menu board. When he finished, there was still no one in the shop, so he started adding small cartoons of each staff member next to their creations. He was just putting the final touches on Aleisha’s trademark curly afro when he heard someone behind him at the counter.

“So you do all of the drawings, then?”

Scorpius turned over his shoulder, wondering why no one else had taken care of the customer, and then he saw it was James. PJ was giving him a knowing look from where she was leaning on the counter. He thought about going back and drawing her little pug nose oversized out of spite.

“Yeah,” Scorpius said. He climbed down from the step stool and approached the counter. He wiped his hands nervously on his apron--sometimes he got chalk on them.

“You’re really good,” James said.

“Thanks. My degree is in art.” He didn’t know why he was telling James this, it just felt like something he should share.

“Seems like a waste to just be using it to draw on chalkboards,” James said, smiling.

“Well, you know,” Scorpius said vaguely, trying to hide the heat he felt on his face. He pushed his hair out of his eyes. “Pays the bills, I guess. Can I get you something?”

James’ smile fell a bit, but he pressed on. “Which one is your pick?”

Scorpius turned back to the menu. He’d only finished Aleisha and PJ’s cartoons. “Um, the treacle latte and the fruit loops blend,” he said hesitantly.

“Fruit loops…?” James said. Scorpius didn’t know why he was embarrassed, but here he was, turning pink behind the counter.

“Yeah, er, it’s a frozen drink, so it’s got all of our fruit syrups in, shot of espresso, whatever milk, and then it’s got marshmallows and whip on top.” He ran a hand through his hair. “It’s a bit much, but it’s good.”

“Might be too much for me,” James said. “Can I do the treacle, though?”

“Sure,” Scorpius replied. “For here, I’m assuming?”

“Please,” James said. Scorpius grinned.

“You make it, I’ll ring him up,” PJ said.

Scorpius took his time assembling the treacle tart latte. He’d spent one long afternoon creating it. He adored sweets, and he liked his coffee just the same. The latte had all the basics, plus golden syrup, lemon syrup, and a lemon zest garnish on top.

“I’m telling you, the white chocolate mint mocha is where it’s at,” PJ was saying to James.

“Well, maybe he can try that one next time,” Scorpius said, passing the cup over to James.

“Maybe,” James said, sniffing the cup. “Smells great. Thanks.” He grinned.

“Sure,” Scorpius said, smiling back. James headed to his usual table and Scorpius climbed back up to add his own caricature to the board. When he was satisfied with his work, he climbed back down and busied himself putting everything away again before he checked in on James. He was engrossed in some sort of book, but held his cup in the other hand. Scorpius’ hands hurt a bit, but he found a napkin to draw the sight on anyway.

“Did you like it?” he asked when James came to drop off his cup before leaving.

“It was different,” James said. “Definitely reminded me of treacle tart.”

“That’s the point,” Scorpius said, grining. “See you, James.”

“Bye,” James said, offering everyone his usual wave on his way out.

\--

The next time Scorpius was in was a week or so later. He’d taken some vacation time to visit his parents back home. He’d missed the bustle of the city terribly, and even more so the nightlife, but it had been nice to visit. He was just getting back into the swing of things when James came in.

“Where’ve you been?” he asked, leaning on the counter like he owned the place. Scorpius huffed.

“Vacation,” he said, simply.

“Oh,” James said, looking a bit disappointed. Scorpius wondered if he thought he might get a bit more information than that. “Well, it was different without you here.”

“I do a shit job at the sign outside is what he means,” Aleisha called from her side of the counter.

“I liked your puns,” PJ offered. James laughed.

“Just a lot of feminine energy, that’s all.”

“Oh you know, I tone it down so much,” Scorpius joked. “What can we get for you today?”

“I saw you have the blueberry cobbler today,” James said.

“That we do,” Scorpius replied. “How big? For here?”

“To go today, actually,” James replied. “The usual size.” Scorpius thought he seemed disappointed, but he couldn’t be too sure. He turned to get James his coffee. When he turned back, James already had his money ready.

“Change?” he asked.

“‘Course not,” James replied, smiling. “So, what does the S stand for, Superman?”

Scorpius blinked, then laughed. His nametag simply said ‘S. He’d grown tired of people trying to pronounce his name, or squinting at his chest, or making some weird comment, so he’d just gotten a new name tag with his initial instead of his full name. PJ had suggested he include his middle initial so that it seemed like he was shushing all of the customers, but he’d declined.

“No. It’s just better than my full name.”

“So is that what people are meant to call you? Just ‘S’?”

“Well, my friends call me Scor.”

“So what am I meant to call you?” James was grinning again. It was a bit intoxicating, could definitely win awards. Scorpius after hours might have told James to call him whatever he’d like, but as it stood, there was a three foot counter between them and he was wearing an apron.

“Scor is fine,” he said.

“Brilliant,” James replied. He picked up his coffee. “Well, thanks, Scor. See you.”

“Bye,” Scorpius said. He spent a long time staring at the door after James left, his brain a broken record of the other man saying his name.

“You okay in there, mate?”

He blinked, then registered Aleisha’s hand waving in front of his face.

“Yep, sorry.”

“You’ve got to get that man’s number,” PJ said, crossing her arms.

“Do I?” Scorpius said, hesitantly.

“If you don’t, I’m getting it for you,” Aleisha said.

“Please, God, no,” Scorpius begged. PJ laughed at him.

“He’s definitely flirting with you, Scor.”

“Whatever, just.” Scorpius put a hand up to shield his red face from view. “We’re at work, right? It’s weird.”

“You’re weird, we still love you,” Aleisha said.

“No,” Scorpius said, putting his metaphorical foot down (he definitely did not stomp at all). Aleisha put her hands up in defeat and PJ rolled her eyes. Business went on as usual, but Scorpius’ thoughts kept drifting to _what if_.

\--

Another lazy afternoon meant another visit from James.

“Hello Scor,” he said cheerfully. Scorpius looked up from his napkin doodle and smiled.

“Hey, James,” he said. “What’re you drinking today?”

James looked up at the board. “Can I do an iced coffee?” He looked back down and spotted Scorpius’ napkin. “What are you drawing?”

Scorpius had been drawing James. He shoved the napkin out of the line of customer sight. “It’s nothing,” he said, too quickly. James frowned. “How big of an iced do you want?”

“He’s always doodling something,” PJ called, always appearing where she wasn’t wanted. “They’re good. We keep telling him to start a comic book like he keeps talking about.”

“Or at least advertise for some commission work,” Aleisha added.

“Guys,” Scorpius said, looking up as he felt his face heat.

“What would your comic be about?” James asked. He seemed genuinely interested, which was definitely worse.

“Probably Yogurt Julie,” PJ said.

“It would not,” Scorpius said, feeling increasingly like he wanted to jump out of his own skin.

“Yogurt Julie?” James asked. His eyebrows furrowed together. It was stupidly adorable.

“Yeah, she’s a six am regular, always gets a black iced coffee and a yogurt,” Aleisha said.

PJ slid the napkin drawing of Yogurt Julie across the counter.

“Why does she have a water gun?” James asked, confused.

“She’s shooting yogurt at the muffin-eating masses,” Scorpius said, feeling even more like he’d rather die than be having this conversation with his cutest regular. But James was laughing, and looking more closely at the drawing.

“This is brilliant, Scor,” he said.

“Like we keep saying,” Aleisha said. Her smile was smug.

“So you wanted an iced coffee?” Scorpius tried, desperate to get their conversation away from his drawings.

“Yeah, um, just the regular size, thanks,” James said. He handed the napkin back to Scorpius, who set it back behind the counter. “You are really good, you know.”

“Thanks,” Scorpius said, pushing his hair behind his eyes. He bustled around getting the iced coffee.

“I’m just surprised you’re here instead of working on that, is all.”

Scorpius sighed. He pushed a straw into James’ cup and passed it across to him. “It’s really just a mental thing. I know I can do it and keep working here, and I know if I get a comic off the ground my parents…” he stopped mid sentence. “Sorry, you don’t need to hear about my personal life.” He laughed awkwardly then.

“It’s alright,” James said.

“No, no. Enjoy your coffee, mate.”

James smiled hesitantly, then headed over to his table. He kept looking up at Scorpius over his laptop, which was infuriating. Scorpius felt awkward and resumed work on his James doodle, giving him adorably furrowed brows and a light flush. He nearly jumped out of his skin when James came back up to the counter.

“Hey,” James said, laughing a little. “Um, could I get another? Sorry, it’s just, there’s a lot of papers and I have to work on my thesis still.”

Scorpius pasted his customer service smile on.

“Sure, I’ll bring it over, you get back to work. That sounds stressful.”

“I’ll get it done,” James replied, though he didn’t sound terribly sure about it. “Thanks.” He headed back to his table and Scorpius busied himself with the coffee.

“Bring him something extra,” Aleisha said.

“Why?” Scorpius replied, flustered.

“So he knows you’re interested you bumbling moron,” PJ said, putting her hands on her hips.

“I will seriously take it out of my paycheck. Get a blueberry muffin,” Aleisha said, pointing.

“I hate you both,” Scorpius whined.

“You do not, please,” PJ retorted. She pushed a muffin into Scorpius’ hands. “Don’t forget a napkin.”

A light bulb went off in Scorpius’ mind. He rummaged through his doodle napkins and found one of James that didn’t completely make him want to die. It was one of the first he’d drawn, the little cartoon James staring intently at his laptop while holding an oversized cup of coffee. He added a quick note -- _you’ve got this!_ \-- and a little smiley face. He grabbed some actual napkins and rushed over to James’ table before he completely lost his nerve.

“Here you go,” he said, all in a rush. James looked up and his eyebrows furrowed together again. Scorpius wished his complexion allowed for easier hiding of his embarrassment, but he was forever cursed. “Erm, thought maybe you could use more than coffee to get through your work. Anyway, it’s on the house, don’t worry about it.” He set down the coffee, muffin, and napkins and turned tail before James had a chance to say anything back.

“I’m going on my fucking break,” he mumbled as he shoved past Aleisha and PJ into the back room. He sat down on the floor and vaguely wondered if this was why people smoked. He leaned back, his head hitting the brick wall, and sighed.

When he emerged fifteen minutes later, James had gone, and PJ and Aleisha were furious with him. James had apparently come up and asked after him before he’d gone. He shrugged it off, and the rest of the day passed slowly. When he got home that night, he dug around for his long abandoned storyboard. It was time to get drawing for himself again.

\--

It took several days for James to come back into the shop, and Scorpius was pretty sure he was over his juvenile display of embarrassment. He was working alone, it was a slow shift, and he was an adult. He could handle this. He was distinctly less sure of himself when James grinned at him immediately upon entering the shop.

“Scor,” he said happily, then headed over. “Hey, thanks for the muffin last time, I didn’t get a chance to say.”

“It’s nothing,” Scorpius said. “Did you get all of your work done?”

“Yeah, had to pull an all-nighter but I met my thesis deadline.” James scratched the back of his neck and looked away. “That was a really cool drawing of me you did.”

Scorpius shifted his weight. “Thanks,” he said. “I um, I like to draw our customers, I guess.”

“People watching?” James asked, smiling.

“Yeah. You’re like, captive models or something,” Scorpius replied.

James scratched the back of his neck again. “Do you give all of your captive models muffins, though?”

Scorpius paused, confused. “Er, no,” he said. He knew he was red now. He cleared his throat and tried to reel the conversation back in. “What did you want to order today?”

James looked back at Scorpius, then. The tips of his ears were red, which was also infuriatingly adorable. “Well, I’d really just like your number, but if I have to get coffee too, you have the blueberry cobbler today, so that.”

Scorpius stared at James for a long moment before a laugh bubbled out of him. “You didn’t have to get in the queue for that,” he said.

“What queue?” James said, gesturing around. There was one old man seated in the shop, and that was it. Scorpius laughed again.

“I’m getting your coffee,” he said, shaking his head and turning around. He scrawled his number on the cardboard sleeve before he put it on. When he turned back around, James was looking in his wallet and everywhere but up at Scorpius. Scorpius’ stomach rose into his throat when he realized that James thought he’d been rejected. He rushed back over to the counter.

“Um, here,” he said, feeling stupid.

James looked up and took the coffee, his grin splitting his whole face open when he saw Scorpius’ number on it. “Brilliant,” he said.

“I’m off at six,” Scorpius said, feeling optimistic.

“Great,” James replied. “I actually really need to get to campus, but I will call you.”

“Good,” Scorpius said. He smiled at James, a real one. “See you, James.”

“Bye,” James said, a little breathless. He gave his trademark wave and headed out the door. Scorpius watched him go for a long moment, looked around the shop, and then tore into the back room to text PJ and Aleisha. When he finally got his phone out of his coat pocket, he saw he had a new message from an unknown number. He swiped it open.

‘ _Hey, its James_ ,’ it read. Scorpius’ grin spread even wider.

‘ _I thought i told u i was off at 6 ;)_ ’ he typed quickly. The three bubbles and response happened just as fast.

‘ _Well maybe I didn’t want to wait that long_ ’

‘ _What if i told u u had to but u can meet me here and we can go to the burger place down the street?_ ’

Scorpius stared at those three dots for way too long.

‘ _Sounds like a date._ ’

Scorpius chucked his phone back into his pocket. He’d text PJ and Aleisha later. He had a shift to power through.


End file.
